My husband and I have some home-made products that we want to sell on the internet but we are not computer literate enough to set up our own website although we do have one that was set up for us for our dog breeding business. What I am looking for is a site similar to Ebay.com but instead of being an auction, it is a site where you can sell a product at a particular price. Since we have a digital camera, we would want to put up pictures of our products as well. Is there a site like that which for a minimal fee or a % of the selling price that we can list various products? If there isn't, I think it is a great opportunity for you computer types to start one. You wouldn't have to handle the product if it worked like Ebay. You would just pass along the order to the person who listed with you and bill them for your cut. Sounds like a great home business for someone who knows computers and can connect it with the right search engines to bring in the customers. (I guess if it is such a great idea, someone is already doing it so, let me know where they are! (Ha! Ha!) Thanks.

-- Colleen Lanza (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), October 25, 1999

Answers

www.freemerchant.com might be what you are looking for. Check them out.

-- Ruth Guida (n5rjm@arrl.net), October 26, 1999.

You can essentially set your price to sell at on eBay - just use the minimum bid or reserve that way...I'm not a big eBay fan, but there is no doubt of the amount of traffic there. Good Luck

-- Guy Winton (guyiii@home.com), October 27, 1999.

Colleen; Try www.melonbones.com They are just starting up and will give you free space. This will give you the oppertunity to enter into PC auction at a slower learning pace. Lots of luck in your new endeavor JR

-- J. R. Jones (jr3star@earthlink.net), February 25, 2000.

Colleen, what you are talking about is E Commerce. Strangely enough, that's what hubby and I do for a living (putting small businesses on the internet to do business -- i.e., sell product/services).

We're in Canada, so our service wouldn't be much help to you -- but if you go to your ISP (Internet Service Provider -- the folks you pay for your internet access) they might be able to suggest someone who could give you a hand. Alternatively, check in your yellow pages under "computer consulting" or "internet consulting" -- there is probably an ad for a small company in your area provides this service.

-- Tracy (trimmer@westzone.com), April 27, 2000.

Hi Colleen...

Just so you know, on ebay, you can run what is called a dutch auction where, you can sell multiple quantities from your inventory. You can also relist easily, and you can also have people buy before auctions end by creating a buy it now listing.. for instance, bid starts at $9.99, buy it now for $10.00. (Has to be more than original starting price) Also, tis the buying season revving up.. you could sell gift baskets, too. People like to spend more and buy in bullk to save on shipping. Use the word 'Lot' in your item description if you do sell multiple items. You could also test the market on ebay just to try it all on and learn some online ropes.

take care, meagan

-- meagan fuson (fusons@ados.com), October 28, 2001.

Ebay already had "Ebay Stores" where you can sell at fixed prices, with photos, ect.

-- Jake (Jake@home.com), October 28, 2001.

That should be "Ebay _has_ Ebay Stores"... check it out.

-- Jake (Jake@home.com), October 28, 2001.